hose who become terrorists are often the socially alienated persons who dropped out of society or are condemned as societal misfits, almajirins, area boys, hoodlums, the unemployed, those with spartan education especially youths who place no premium on their lives. Terrorist groups also brainwash their recruits and it is apparent that this method is the one adopted by Boko Haram to recruit its adherents.
In his article, earlier referenced Mike Okemi submitted that Nigerians must desist from justifying the activities of the Boko Haram because no matter and whatever the measure put in place we would not get the best result and fast enough unless the society as a whole reject terrorism without any justification. There is also a need for international collaboration between Nigeria and other countries faced with terrorism to fight it just as there has been urgent need for international effort to solve the problems. In the tackling of terrorism, information sharing, intelligence and lessons learnt.
On August 29th, 2014, Mr. Austin Alegeh SAN assumed office as the President of the Nigerian Bar Association having convincingly won election to that office. In his acceptance speech, he stated unequivocally his concern for the appalling security of the nation and emphasised the urgent need to locate and free the more than 250 SSS 3 students abducted by Boko Haram insurgents in Chibok, Borno State. The implication of this abduction and the inability of the security network of the state to rescue these girls from captivity has more than anything else, captured the ‘importance’ of our array of security forces. Foreign collaborators have retreated back to their comfort zone, seeing the northern terrain and being confronted with the reality that the problem can only be resolved by our leadership who have commingled their inordinate desire to perpetuate themselves in power and have unwittingly created a Frankenstein, which even them cannot control. In absolute frustration, the President of the Federal Republic admitted that some of these insurgents have indeed infiltrated his government and the military, making it absolutely difficult for the government of the day to track down, arrest, prosecute and incarcerate the criminals.
Having found ourselves in this political quagmire, the mesh and this spider’s web, where there appears to be no escape, our leaders MUST consider all options to resolve this political logjam, and secure the future of our children in order to prove in reality competence, capabilities and justifications of our social contract with them.
In the circumstances, the security situation in the country requires urgent attention, it has become apparent that the continued survival of Nigeria as a corporate entity would be premised on how quickly the insurgency in the North is brought to an end, the Chibok Girls in captivity are released and normalcy restored in the country. It is, therefore, extremely offensive that inspite of the ill-fortunes this state of affairs portends, our leadership at the Federal level, the political party in power and cronies of the sovereign-in-power are dissipating their energies in the comedy-of-errors by organizing political rallies and social funfare and questionable documentation of signature seemingly persuading the President and Commander-in-Chief to declare his intention to contest the 2015 Presidential elections.
These campaigns reveal how obsessed with power the present administration is and its unwillingness to await an electorate scorecard before engaging in spurious filtration and wastage of scare resources of state. We all need to be circumspect and guard our sovereign rights which reside in us as a people, by virtue of the doctrine of social contract, which states in unequivocal terms that power belongs to the people.
The United State Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Wendy Sherman at the Summit hosted by French President Francois Hollande in Paris stated that the US was committed to supporting the Nigerian government in ensuring that the Girls abducted in Chibok are brought back alive. According to her, the abducted school girls have become “the girls of the world, not just of Nigeria”. He added that all efforts are being put in place to ensure that the West Africa sub-region was not turned to a breeding ground for terror. Insisting that the American people “are not putting ‘boots on the ground’ in Nigeria for the girls’ rescue, Sherman noted that only intelligence assistance would be provided.
Our nascent democracy is piloted on the fact that the people of this country are oblige to monitor the activities of the state to ensure that the government as typified by the executive act for all intent and purposes in accordance with the constitution of the Federal Republic and all other ancillary provisions that ensure good governance, security of lives and property and an enabling environment for self fulfillment.
The State according to Aristotle exists for the exercise of the qualities which make men good husbands, fathers and heads of households, good soldiers and citizens, good men of science and philosophers. When the State by its education and laws, written and unwritten, succeeds in evoking and maintaining in vigorous activity a life rich in noble aims and deeds, then and not until then has it fully fulfilled the end for which it exists.
Contributing to the discourse, Herbert Spencer’s views the state as nothing but a natural institution preventing one man from infringing the rights of another. It is a joint-stock protection company for mutual assurance. Harold Laski sums it up in what appears to be a modern view in “A Grammar of Politics”, where he submitted that “the state is an organization to enable the mass of men to realize social good on the largest possible scale. It exists to enable men, at least potentially, to realize the best in themselves”. These theories of political science was further developed by Appadorai who pointed that men obey the State because they stand to gain by doing so. They are conscious that the State has a rational purpose; that purpose is the promotion of social good on the largest possible scale; the achievement of that purpose demands their willing co-operation and obedience to laws. It is the duty of the State to recognise the citizens rights and give them increasing substance. However, when there is a clear evidence that, over a reasonable period, the State is not doing its duty – in order words, when its actions are not in accordance with its purpose – the individual has the right to ask himself why he should continue to render obedience. There is a moral right to resist a totalitarian government whose thrust of governance is suspect or a political party of power jobbers, devoid of any decipherable policies to better the lives of their people whose standard of living is abysmally poor.
The word ‘Sovereignty’ is derived from the Latin word ‘superanus’, which means ‘supreme’. In this context, Sovereignty may be defined as the power of the State to make laws and enforce the laws with all the coercive powers it cares to employ. The Sovereign in a modern State such as the Federal Republic of Nigeria can be located in the Executive President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. The enormous power of this office is akin to that of the medieval king who can do no wrong. The fortunes or misfortunes of the people would be determined by the necessary Sovereigns understanding of the dynamics of power and his perception of what end is the purpose for which he was elected. If the aim is simply for political power of perpetuation in office, the citizens of that State would suffer stagnation and bad governance.
The Federal Republic of Nigeria has had a turbulent political history from the hoisting of the Union Jack in 1914, the amalgamation, the Republics, military rule and interregnum, civil war and epileptic democratic governance. All these ills and benefits have resulted in citizens whose system of governance can best be described as a militrocracy, because our attitude of life is semi-militarized and we do not recognize the human rights contain explicitly in Chapter IV of our Constitution.
There is empirical proof and judicial decisions both local and international with our political class have pilfered the resources of the State, establish institutions to secure their ill-gotten wealth and are more often than not, celebrated by a population whose standard of living is abysmally poor. Our leaders have consistently failed to establish institutions, enact policies, provide infrastructural upgrades, create employment, provide health care facilities, build houses or provide good governance worthy of celebration by the citizenry. The benefits of our oil wealth and natural mineral resources are stocked in Swiss bank accounts by irresponsible gangs of thieves, that had either forced themselves in the corridors of power through the barrels of the gun or rigged elections or we have chosen, to further impoverish us. The resultant effect is consecutive bad governance and social insecurity because of an unproductive populace, not engaged in meaningful productive enterprise, not for lack of desired but because the people to whom power was entrusted have no altruistic intention of using if for the benefit of the people.
